MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon. I have one update to begin with
on the President's schedule. Special Presidential Envoy Baker, as you
all are aware, just this week completed his most recent visit to key
Gulf countries to discuss the importance of reducing Iraq's debt. And
as I talked about yesterday, those were very productive meetings and
the President very much appreciates the positive response from all four
countries that Special Presidential Envoy Baker visited.

And Secretary Baker was here to meet with Dr. Rice and brief her
and update her on these discussions. The President invited him to come
to lunch with him, and so they will be having lunch together here
momentarily, and the President looks forward to receiving an update on
this important priority in our efforts to help the Iraqi people realize
a free and peaceful and prosperous future.

Q Coverage?

MR. McCLELLAN: Of the President's lunch?

Q Yes.

MR. McCLELLAN: No.

Q Will he go to the stakeout after?

MR. McCLELLAN: I've updated you on the progress of these meetings
earlier this week, and this effort is ongoing. Obviously, we'll be
entering a phase here where now we will talk about specific commitments
-- the specific amounts that constitute substantial debt reduction that
many countries have committed to already.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we appreciate the commitments that have been
made by a number of countries, both in -- well, in Europe, Asia and the
Middle East, to substantially reduce Iraq's debt burden. These
countries recognize that that is important to helping the Iraqi people
have a successful reconstruction and a brighter future. And as we've
said, what constitutes "specific" is something that will be discussed
in further negotiations as we move forward.

They also all -- these countries also agreed that this should
happen this year, that it's important to move forward quickly in this
respect. And we welcome those comments and we appreciate these
countries' commitment to the successful reconstruction of Iraq.

Q Scott --

MR. McCLELLAN: Someone has their hand up.

Q I do.

MR. McCLELLAN: John. How are you?

Q Good. On another aspect of Iraq, what does the White House
have to say about these allegations that two employees of a Halliburton
subsidiary may have taken as much as $6 million in illegal payments for
awarding a contract to a Kuwaiti company to supply U.S. troops?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, one, there is -- the Department of Defense
is looking into the issue of whether or not Halliburton over-charged
the federal government and received payments beyond what they should
have. The President has made it very clear that he expects the
Department of Defense to get to the bottom of that matter, and that if
there were -- if the federal government was over-charged, that
Halliburton should repay that money. So that's the President's view.
And I think that there is ongoing -- the Department of Defense has an
ongoing investigation into this matter.

Q But what about these new allegations or these new suggestions
by Halliburton of a possible over-charge of $6 million and the
admission by Halliburton that at least some of that may have been in
illegal payments?

MR. McCLELLAN: From my understanding, I think that's all being
looked into by the Department of Defense, and we expect the Department
of Defense to get to the bottom of it. The President expects that if
they were over-paid, that they should pay that money back. The
President has made his views very clear.

Q But is this an embarrassment for the President, who has made
combating corporate corruption a central theme of this administration?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the President's views are very consistent,
that if something like this happened, then he expects the Department of
Defense to look into it fully, to get to the bottom of it, and make
sure that money is repaid if there is something that was -- if
Halliburton over-charged that money.

Q What does it say about the whole reconstruction of Iraq?
Democrats are now saying that it casts a cloud over it. They would
like to -- Democrats in Congress would like to see Congress regain
oversight of the awarding of these contracts.

MR. McCLELLAN: You need to talk to the Department of Defense about
specific contracts. But I think there is obviously a lot of election
year politicking going on. I recognize that.

Q Can you just pass it off as politics?

MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead.

Q Does every country that Baker has met with agree to reduce
the debt substantially this year, within the year?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q Has everybody agreed to --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we report on each individual country. In
terms of -- those countries have put out statements, many of them
saying that they -- that they are committed to substantially reducing
Iraq's debt, and most of those same countries said that they agreed
that it should happen this year. I didn't bring a list of every
specific country and what they committed to. But, generally speaking,
most countries did make that commitment.

Q How about the United States? When are we going to --

MR. McCLELLAN: We've already said that we're committed to joining
in that effort to help the Iraqi people by substantially reducing
debt.

Q So you are going to do that this year, as well?

MR. McCLELLAN: We're committed to moving forward on it, just like
everybody else.

Q But you're not committed to do it this year, necessarily?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I mean, we're having ongoing discussions
with countries about what constitutes their specific amount. But, yes,
let me make very clear, we are committed to doing our part, as well.

MR. McCLELLAN: Okay, Helen. We will keep you posted on that as we
do with any signing ceremonies or any signings of legislation. We'll
keep you posted on that.

Q You don't know of any date?

MR. McCLELLAN: Soon. I mean, this was something that was four
months late in happening and obviously there is a process in terms of
it actually getting delivered to the President for his signature. But
he will sign it soon.

Q Senate officials, including the chairman of the Judiciary
Committee, Orrin Hatch, confirmed that Republican staffers infiltrated
Democratic computer material and released private Democratic documents
regarding judiciary, and nominees primarily, to the media. Hatch has
said he is mortified that this has happened. What does the White House
think about that kind of behavior?

MR. McCLELLAN: John, one, I just don't know the specifics about
this matter. Congress is obviously continuing to look into it and I
expect Congress will act on it. It's something that happened in the
United States Congress and it appears that they're working to address
the matter.

Q If you won't answer that, then can I ask another question?
The Iranians now say that they're going to put on trial about a dozen
jailed Al Qaeda suspects. Is the United States encouraged by this?
Does the United States, because of this, change its position that Iran
harbored some Al Qaeda people who came out of Afghanistan after the war
there?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, our policy on Iran remains the same. Iran
needs to stop supporting terrorism. And if any Al Qaeda members that
they have in their custody, they need to turn over to their home
country, the country of origin. There are a number of countries that
have approached Iran asking that al Qaeda rank and file members
reportedly under detention be turned over to them, where indictments on
terrorism charges are pending. And the Iranians have continued to
ignore those requests.

But our position, for a long time, has been that Iran needs to stop
supporting terrorism, and any al Qaeda members that they have in
custody, they need to turn them over to their country of origin. Now,
in the past, I recognize that Iran has said that they're going to try
al Qaeda members in their custody. This is something they have
previously said. We want to see action, and the action we want to see
is that they turn over those al Qaeda members in their custody to their
country of origin.

Q Even if they're tried and convicted, the United States would
find this unacceptable because they would still would be in Iranian
custody?

MR. McCLELLAN: We want to see actions, and the action that we want
to see is that they turn them over to their country of origin. As I
said, they've said in the past that they would try those al Qaeda
members in their custody. We expect Iran to live up to their
international obligations in the global war on terrorism.

Q Scott, why is that? Is it because you don't believe that
Iran will follow through with the trial? Is it because you don't
believe that justice would follow an Iranian trial? Which of the two
is it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, as I pointed out, a number of countries have
already approached Iran about turning over those al Qaeda members
reportedly in custody so that they can pursue the indictments in their
own country. We have had a number of concerns about Iran relating to
terrorism. We've expressed those concerns repeatedly. And that policy
remains the same.

Q But we do not respond to countries that want to try some of
the people we're holding in Guantanamo Bay, in other countries.

MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, we are in discussion with countries about
those matters on a case-by-case basis.

Q Well, we're in discussion with Great Britain about those
matters, of course.

MR. McCLELLAN: And I would point out that some of those detainees
have been returned to their country of origin. But, again, if there
are people involved in carrying out terrorist attacks on the United
States of America, we will pursue them and bring them to justice.

Q But is it concern about Iran that justice -- that it would
not mete out justice?

MR. McCLELLAN: We have concerns about Iran supporting terrorism.
We have repeatedly said that.

Q Scott, on the space program, there have been some complaints
about NASA's plans to scuttle the Hubble space telescope -- Senator
Mikulski and others. In light of the problems today with Spirit, is
the President still committed, first of all, to scuttling Hubble, and
is he still going to transfer the --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, actually, there was some more positive news
earlier today from Spirit, and obviously, Opportunity will -- is
scheduled to land on Mars tomorrow. NASA continues to stay on top of
this -- on top of this matter, and I think that they can provide you
further details about the communications that they are receiving from
Spirit earlier today, as well as how they're continuing to move forward
to pursue further communications with Spirit.

But the President remains strongly committed to the exploration of
space for the reasons he stated in his speech. And what was important,
remember, we had the terrible tragedy of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
The President directed his administration to undertake a review of our
space policy. And it's important, and I think the President outlined
this in his remarks, that we have a well-defined mission for space
exploration. And that's really what his policy was about, was defining
a very clear mission for the future of our space program and for the
future of space exploration. And I would point out that most of the
resources directed toward that effort are coming from existing budgeted
funds.

Q But for the sake of clarity, could you please get us a fuller
explanation of why Sean O'Keefe plans to end the Hubble program?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think NASA can probably address those matters.
But that's why I pointed out, that it's important that they focus their
resources on a clearly defined mission. That's where -- the President
wants to make sure that we're focusing our resources on clear missions
and on programs that produce meaningful results. And that applies to
NASA, as well. And that's why he outlined the speech that he did. I
think NASA can talk to you more about some of the specific details
within that.

Q Scott, there is a new proposal by Senator Daschle and Senator
Hagel on immigration reform. My question to you is, has the White
House reviewed this proposal and the President will support that? And
Democrats say this is an answer to the ambiguity of the President's
proposal on immigration reform.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, one, I think that we are reviewing the
various legislative proposals. Obviously the President put forward his
ideas and his plan for moving forward on a new temporary worker program
that is compassionate, that is humane, and that meets our economic
needs. And so the President is working from his plan. We want to work
closely with Congress to move forward on that new temporary worker
program. And I think he spelled out his views very clearly in terms of
what we're talking about here are temporary workers that are filling
jobs that we cannot find Americans to fill. And that they should not
be granted an automatic path to citizenship or amnesty. The President
has made his views very clear on that. But we look forward to working
with Congress and moving forward on this important priority as soon as
possible.

Q But has the President reviewed the proposal of Senator --

MR. McCLELLAN: As I said that we are, we will be reviewing the
various proposals. But we want to work closely with Congress on the
plan that the President outlined. And he put forward some clear
principles for moving forward on legislation that would meet that
commitment.

Q Scott, the U.S. Conference of Mayors put out a report saying
that most of the cities have yet to receive the homeland security money
for '03. Has the White House identified a problem there?

MR. McCLELLAN: One, I think that the President touched on our
commitment to homeland security in his remarks yesterday, in terms of
the new budget that will be coming out soon and our continued
commitment to providing significant resources to states and local
governments in our efforts to make sure we're doing everything we can
to protect the American people and secure the homeland.

Let me remind you what the President always says, too, and what
he's acting decisively to do. And that is, win the war on terrorism.
The best way to win the war on terrorism and prevent an attack from
happening in the first place is to take the fight to the enemy, to stay
on the offensive, and bring the terrorists to justice before they can
do us harm. And so that's the most important priority for the
President of the United States. But right up there with it, just as
important, is to make sure we're doing everything we can to protect the
American people here at home. And that's why we have committed
significant resources to state and local governments. And that would
include first responders within those resources.

Since 2001, we have provided more than $13 billion to help states
and local governments prepare and respond and prevent possible
terrorist attacks. So that's what we'll continue to work, to make sure
that our resources are targeted to where they are most needed as well.
And I think that in our upcoming budget, it will reflect our commitment
to making sure that those resources we have are focused in the areas
where they are most needed, and that would certainly include high
threat areas, and high threat urban areas.

Q What's the holdup in the actual disbursement of the money?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that you can probably talk to
Homeland Security about some of the disbursal of the various funds.
But I think that some of that goes to the money that is distributed to
states and then the local governments working with those states to
receive that funding.

Q So the holdup is at the state level?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you need to check with the Department
of Homeland Security on some of that. But I think the money goes to
the states and then the local governments are getting it from the
states as well.

Q Scott, on the subject of the President's budget, you told us
this morning that he plans for the budget for 2005 to hold the spending
request level to just under 1 percent, versus 4 percent for non-defense
and non-Homeland Security related programs. Four percent was what we
were told earlier in the week. Why the change?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, there's not a change. Let me explain it to
you. The 4 percent, we're talking about all discretionary spending.
That's the less than 4 percent number. When you're talking about the 1
percent number, that's when you take out Defense and Homeland
Security. Because, obviously, the President -- the highest priorities
for the American people are winning the war on terrorism and protecting
the homeland. And our budget will reflect that that is the highest
priority, that the President's most important responsibility is to
protect the American people -- and that is why he's acting decisively
to do so.

And every year he puts forward responsible budgets that meet our
highest priorities, like winning the war on terrorism and protecting
the homeland, that focus our resources toward programs that work and
achieve real results. And budgets that rein in the growth in
government spending.

We commend the Congress for moving forward on the spending
legislation yesterday, the Senate for finally acting and getting that
passed. And it meets the President's priorities of funding our
priorities and then holding the line on spending elsewhere in the
budget. It holds the line on spending to 4 percent growth in
discretionary spending. So this President is helping to rein in the
growth in government spending by the budgets that we've put forward,
and he remains committed to doing that.

Q Has the President been under any pressure from fiscal
conservatives on Capitol Hill who are worried about the growing budget
deficit?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's why I pointed out that the President, in
every one of his budgets, has acted to fund our priorities and then
rein in the growth in government spending. And if you go back to the
budget before he took office, we saw in non-homeland security,
non-defense spending, we saw -- discretionary spending -- we saw an
increase of 15 percent. Then in the President's budgets, we've seen
that limited to a growth of 6 percent and 5 percent and then 4 percent
in this most recent budget.

And now in the '05 budget, the President looks forward to working
with Congress to make sure that we continue to fund our priorities and
hold the line on spending elsewhere by holding discretionary spending
to slightly under 4 percent. And then within that, holding
non-homeland security, non-defense discretionary spending to less than
1 percent. This will help us meet our priorities, but also move
forward on the President's plan for cutting the deficit in half over
the next five years.

Q Some of the President's most ardent supporters were
disappointed that he didn't say more in the State of the Union Address
about the out-of-control judiciary. While the Pickering appointment
was well received, what's the President going to do to break the logjam
of the obstructionist minority in the Senate on his judges that are
still being filibustered?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President continues to urge a minority of
Senate Democrats to quit playing politics with our nation's judicial
system. The Senate needs to move forward and give all nominees an
up-or-down vote. That is their constitutional responsibility. The
President has put forward highly qualified nominees, and the Senate --
a minority of Senate Democrats have chosen to play partisan politics
and obstruct the process. Meanwhile, there are some judicial
emergencies that need to be filled, and one of those was the vacancy
that Judge Pickering is now filling.

Q In the 6th Circuit, in particular, there is a judicial
crisis, where the caseloads are far in excess of the average of the
other circuits. Will the President recess-appoint just to fill those
vacancies?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that there are other nominees that
have made it clear to us that they want us to continue, and we will
continue, to fight to make sure that they receive an up-or-down vote as
soon as possible. We can't emphasize enough the need for a minority of
Senate Democrats to stop obstructing the judicial process and to give
these nominees, who are highly qualified, an up-or-down vote. Many of
these nominees have received the highest rating from the American Bar
Association, which Democrats have held out as the gold standard. And
so we will continue to press forward on these nominees and urge action
by the Senate.

Mark.

Q Yes, Scott, let me follow on the budget, if I can. The area
that you're talking about holding to under 1 percent includes a chunk
of domestic -- the President's domestic agenda -- health care,
education, a lot of other domestic spending. These are areas that
you're going to hold to clearly less than the rate of inflation. So in
real terms, you're cutting these --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, it depends on which areas you're talking
about.

Q So you're not cutting these areas?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we're going to have the budget, it will be
out soon. I assure you that it's going to be a responsible budget.
It's going to meet our priorities in all those important areas, some of
which you mentioned, and then it's going to hold the line on spending
elsewhere within the budget.

Q So you're not cutting these areas?

MR. McCLELLAN: And that's what the President is committed to
doing. Obviously, we have some very high priorities that we must make
sure we fully fund. That's the war on terrorism and that's homeland
security. And that's what this President is doing. We have to
remember that we are at war on terrorism. We have to remember that we
have new threats that we're working to confront in this 21st century,
and so it's important to set clear priorities. That's what this
President has always done -- done going back to his days as the
Governor of Texas. And then make sure that we hold the line on
spending elsewhere in the budget.

But those priorities, if you set clear priorities, you can make
sure that those priorities are met and that your commitments are met
while holding the line on spending elsewhere in the budget.

Q He is talking about cutting these areas that are not -- that
he doesn't --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, Mark, you're -- that's a very broad
statement. I mean, there are certain areas that will not receive as
much funding as some other areas. But it's an important priority in
principle that the President works for when it comes to budgeting and
that's what he will continue to do.

And in terms of education, I would point out that we have provided
significant increases to education, an historic level of funding for
education and for the reforms that we're implementing. Most
importantly, we're implementing reforms that will help improve our
public schools.

And when it comes to health care, the President laid out some very
clear priorities to address the rising cost of health care to make
health care more affordable, make sure Americans have access to
quality, affordable health care, and that they can choose the kind of
health care that meets their individual needs. And that's important.
But, again, the budget will be released here soon and we look forward
to discussing it more at that point.

Q Scott, is food safety part of that area that would get
increased funding? And if so, how much and what areas?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, as I said earlier and as I said
earlier this week, the full budget is going to be put out on February
2nd and then we will have a detailed briefing on the budget at that
point. But food safety is obviously an important priority. It is an
important priority when it comes to the issue of terrorism, as well.

But we have -- the Department of Agriculture and the FDA make that
-- make food safety a high priority. They are working to improve our
food safety and make sure that we are acting to protect the food
supply.

Q Indicating that they are on the list to possibly get more
funds?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, stay tuned. The budget will be out soon,
and then we can talk more about it at that point.

Q One more on the budget. Do you know if any of the AIDS funds
will be going to Africa and the Caribbean this year, or are they
deferred for another year?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President is strongly committed to confronting
the AIDS pandemic, and that's why he put forward his emergency relief
plan. And that calls for a strong commitment over five years and we'll
continue to ramp up. And you brought up a very important priority that
was passed in this current budget. The current budget that was passed
yesterday by the Senate has a significant amount of funding for
addressing AIDS in those countries, the most afflicted countries, where
people are in need. And the President is strongly committed to that
priority.

Q Do you know how much goes this year, though? I couldn't
figure that out.

MR. McCLELLAN: I believe it was $2.4 billion, but I'd have to
double check in this current budget. And then we'll be proposing
additional resources in the upcoming budget, and it's a total of $15
billion over five years going toward this effort.

Q But is that $2.4 billion domestic or overseas?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm talking about for the emergency relief plan,
which is an international effort to -- with a priority focus on
specific countries in Africa and then two in the Caribbean where they
are most afflicted.

Q When the administration talks about cutting the deficit in
half over five years, are you talking about it in terms of dollar
amount or percentage of GDP?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's either way you look at it.

Q Well, one would give you a little more latitude, as far as
the larger economy --

MR. McCLELLAN: We've previously said both. But we're talking
about cutting it in half over the next five years. And either way you
look at it, it will be cut in half over the next five years, under the
proposal that the President has put forth.

Q But I believe it's around the $500 billion range right now,
and if you look in those terms it would be $250 billion -- but if it's
a larger economy you could actually have a larger number and still
claim it's half the deficit.

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, we've said either way you look at it, we're
talking about cutting it in half over the next five years.

Q Scott, Secretary Chao just sent a letter to Congress saying
that if the Congress adds specific industry relief to a pension bill
for, like, the airline industry, that she will recommend the President
veto it. I'm wondering how that is consistent with a compassionate
conservative agenda when you're talking about millions of people who
work in these industries may be at risk of losing their pensions?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you're talking about the House plan
that the Senate is now considering. We put out a statement of
administration policy on that just yesterday, and in that statement it
makes very clear that we support prompt passage of this legislation,
which is the pension funding equity act, because it contains important
interest rate provisions. It is also consistent with our proposal to
transition to more accurate discounting of pension liabilities. And it
contains a call for comprehensive funding reform to protect the
benefits American workers have earned.

Now, at the same time, we have stated our opposition to any
amendments that would substantially weaken funding requirements for
pension plans. Pension under-funding threatens workers and retirees
who depend on the defined benefit pension system to be predictable and
reliable. And if Congress encourages firms to under-fund their
pensions by substantially weakening pension funding requirements,
retirees could face pension cuts when a firm terminates its defined
benefit and pension plan. So that's the way we're approaching it and
that's our view, and that was put out in a statement of administration
policy just yesterday.

Q I apologize if I've missed a nuance here on the 4 percent and
the 1 percent. If an individual program is going to increase more than
1 percent or 4 percent, is that the kind of thing where the President
would personally want to sign off with or programs wouldn't be allowed
to break above that cap?

MR. McCLELLAN: Are programs going to be allowed to break above
that? Well, I think you will see some above, some below. The budget
is going to be coming out soon. You'll get the full telephone books,
so you'll be able to look through each of the individual programs.

Q Mrs. Bush has announced a couple of programs already.
Yesterday she talked about one of her library and museum ones going up
14 percent.

MR. McCLELLAN: Right. Right.

Q So that's not -- so the President thinks that's okay so long
as the department, itself, or the agency doesn't go above --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, no, no, you're not trying to put every single
agency in that category. I'm saying at the overall number, when you
take out defense and you take out homeland security, discretionary
spending will

be slightly below 1 percent. The growth in discretionary spending
will be slightly below 1 percent. But the -- we are moving forward on
what we view as a very responsible budget that meets our priorities and
holds the line on spending elsewhere in the budget. That's important,
as the President pointed out in his statement yesterday, to fund
priorities, cut wasteful spending, and that's where he's coming from.

Q I just want to go back to what I began asking you about.
Halliburton, as you know, is already under investigation by the
Inspector General of the DOD for allegedly over-charging for fuel
contracts. Now there are allegations of corruption regarding one of
its subsidiaries. Is the President getting hincky at all about this
company's involvement in what is one of the most critical issues for
his administration, particularly the idea that any time something
happens involving this company, it comes right back around to the White
House -- because of the Vice President --

MR. McCLELLAN: Exactly. The question, which you've acted like you
were surprised that people were trying to politicize this for election
year advantage.

Q No, I'm just wondering if he's getting hincky at all about
allegations of over-charging and now corruption?

MR. McCLELLAN: John, those contract decisions are made by the
Department of Defense. And if there are problems there, we expect the
Department of Defense to look into that, to get to the bottom of it,
and fix that problem. And the President has made that very clear. I
don't think the President of the United States could have been clearer
when that question was asked of him in the Roosevelt Room just a few
months ago.

Q My question is, is he personally getting a little concerned
about this company's involvement in one of the most critical issues
facing this administration?

MR. McCLELLAN: There are a lot of safeguards that have been put in
place in the contracting process. We expect those safeguards to be
followed, and I think that that is exactly what is happening now,
because the Department of Defense is moving forward to look into that
matter and to get to the bottom of it. And then if there were
over-payments, we expect that to be repaid in full.

Q I have a follow-up. The Associated Press is reporting today
that a French judge is investigating a bribery scandal involving
Halliburton when the Vice President Dick Cheney was the CEO of that
company. And the judge, according to this AP report today, has warned
Cheney that he could be subject to criminal charges in France
concerning this bribery scandal in Nigeria. So the question is, if the
French want to extradite the Vice President to stand trial in France,
will the President allow for that extradition? (Laughter.)

MR. McCLELLAN: Did I just talk about people using this for
election year advantage?

Go ahead, John.

Q No, this is an AP report about a criminal investigation of
Halliburton.

MR. McCLELLAN: And I've heard your political commentary about it,
and I think we'll move on.

Q The omnibus spending bill that the President will sign -- you
say, soon -- it contains one victory that's not for the President.
It's sort of an absence of something in there. Congress did not go
ahead, as many people in both the Senate and the House wanted to, to
stop his change in the overtime pay rules. Still, there are a lot of
Republicans who think it's not wise and not fair to block the overtime
provisions that are in there for people who make over $22,000 a year.
They say it will make it much easier for employers to classify workers
as management, thereby keeping them from getting overtime pay that
they're not getting. Will the President, before this rule goes into
effect in what we're being told is probably going to be March -- will
the President rethink this at all, or is this now a done deal and it's
going to happen?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, one, I think the Department of Labor is still
moving forward on the actual proposed rule. It's a proposed rule at
this point, so they'll be moving forward on the actual regulations
relating to that rule. But the proposed rules restore overtime
protections, that have eroded over five decades, to millions of
white-collar workers who deserve overtime protection today and
currently are not protected by the current rules. And our goal is to
make sure that there are better rules on the books that protect more
workers. And under this approach, you're going to see many more
workers who currently aren't covered be able to receive overtime pay.

But the Department of Labor is still moving forward on the actual
regulations within this rule. I would point out that the proposed rule
does not impact hourly workers or blue-collar workers, and that would
include police and firefighters and the many first responders who are
out there.

Q What you say is true of people who make under $22,000. The
administration says it's trying to increase overtime --

MR. McCLELLAN: Right, and overall it will.

Q But then you go to people who make over $22,000 -- to be
precise, $22,100 a year -- the rule would make it easier for employers
to say, you no longer qualify for overtime, I'm considering you a
manager. Is the President going to rethink that part of the rule at
all, or is that a done deal?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, it's a proposed rule at this point.
The Department of Labor is still moving forward on the actual rule,
itself. And I just pointed out our view in terms of why this is
something that will provide better rules to cover more workers in the
work force who deserve overtime pay and currently do not receive it.
So that's our --

Q Related to --

Q Thank you.

MR. McCLELLAN: Thanks -- well, one more, one more. You started
before he said "thank you," so we'll get one more.

Q Related to the omnibus, does the President support the
voluntary plan, the industry plan for country-of-origin labeling? And
if he did, what would he do? And what action would he take if he gets
a bill that would require immediate implementation of country-of-origin
before 2006?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, as you know, the legislation provides for a
two-year delay on moving forward on the country-of-origin labeling that
was part of the farm bill. What the President wants to make sure that
we're doing is that we're doing everything we can to improve food
safety. There are a lot of questions and there certainly hasn't been
any evidence to suggest that this is an effective way to improve
safety. So we've previously stated our views on this when it was going
through the House. And right now the legislation calls for a two-year
delay of implementation of that.

But we're committed to acting to improve food safety, and taking
steps that are known to protect our food supply and improve food
safety. So that's where we are.